Shares in Randgold Resources were shining after the Africa-focused gold miner's chief executive Mark Bristow said its recent discovery of a gold deposit at Gounkoto in western Mali confirms the region's potential for further finds of this size.

Speaking at a media briefing in Mali, he said that all indications point to Gountoko having the potential to become 'a low-cost, long-life open pit and underground mine.'

The deposit is about 15 miles south of Randgold's Loulo, which it is currently being turned into a 'megamine.'

'We have always said that this region had the prospectivity to become one of Africa's key gold addresses and Gounkoto - along with the continuing expansion of Loulo itself and the discovery of other prospects such as Massawa, which is across the border in Senegal but part of the same structure - has confirmed this belief,' Bristow said.

'Mali still holds enormous potential for further gold discoveries for those who are bold enough to invest in the region.'

Related shares
Randgold Resources (RRS) share price